Farm Bill: Healthy Food, not Corporate Welfare!

Unless you are a diehard policy wonk, it's tough to get excited about the Farm Bill. But consumers have a bigger stake in this mammoth piece of federal legislation than we may realize. Big Ag's lobbyists fight hard to protect corporate interests, almost always at the expense of consumers. The OCA is here to help you fight for for healthy food and against corporate welfare!

As the world begins to zero in on the need to bring this soil back to life—as a solution to drought, nitrogen pollution, climate change, and more—farmers like Jimmy Emmons and others practicing no-till in the middle of the country could play a key role. As they reshape their operations with a focus on things like earthworms and water filtration, and practice a suite of other approaches that fit loosely under the umbrella of “regenerative agriculture,” these farmers are stepping out of the ag mainstream.

Boulder County officials have issued a clean bill of health to Boulder's Black Cat Farm, which provides farm-to-table produce and meat to two popular Boulder restaurants, following a brief investigation prompted by a tip that raised questions about its meat processing.

A statement issued late Wednesday by Boulder County Department of Public Health spokeswoman Chana Goussetis stated, "Black Cat provided our Food Safety program staff with the necessary documentation this week to confirm that they are meeting local and state requirements for the preparation and storage of their meat

Livestock raised for food in the US are dosed with five times as much antibiotic medicine as farm animals in the UK, new data has shown, raising questions about rules on meat imports under post-Brexit trade deals.

The difference in rates of dosage rises to at least nine times as much in the case of cattle raised for beef, and may be as high as 16 times the rate of dosage per cow in the UK. There is currently a ban on imports of American beef throughout Europe, owing mainly to the free use of growth hormones in the US.

Ending its three-year stall on publishing statewide pesticide usage data, Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets finally released the information in January in response to a public records request. The newly released data covers the years 2014-2016, and it shows a dramatic increase in pesticide use on Vermont’s dairy farms, particularly when it comes to managing GMO cornfields. The use of glyphosate, for example, more than doubled in those three years, while overall corn-related pesticide use rose 27 percent.

Stevia is a perennial herb, native of South America, that has been used as a natural sweetener for more than 1,500 years. Given it is up to 200 times sweeter than sugar, has zero calories and does not spike your blood sugar, stevia is an appealing alternative to sugar if you are trying to lose weight or simply reduce your consumption of sugary sweets. Among its known health benefits, stevia acts as a natural antioxidant, inhibits the growth of cavity-promoting bacteria, promotes weight loss, reduces high blood pressure and regulates your blood sugar.

You can grow blueberries in nearly every climate as long as you are able to create an acidic soil environment needed for them to thrive; for best results, test your soil and adjust the pH before planting them. Because blueberries cross-pollinate, you will need to plant more than one bush; planting multiple varieties with varying maturity dates will ensure a continuous berry harvest during the growing season.

Farmers—especially the ones who grow the corn and soybeans that churn through our food system and fuel our country’s penchant for hamburgers and bacon—are in a tight spot. For seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers, these growers depend on a tiny number of companies that have enormous leverage to raise prices. And when they’re ready to market their crops, they’re confronted by another handful of powerful grain-trading firms, who in turn have leverage to keep prices down.

There is hardly a more well-known or well-respected name among organic farmers than Eliot Coleman (pictured above, at right). His 1989 book, The New Organic Grower, gave an entire generation of beginning sustainable farmers the tools and methods to make an honest living in agriculture where few resources existed before. And his Four Seasons Farm in Harborside, Maine has stood as a successful model of cold climate winter vegetable production. But his success was not enough to entice his daughter Clara Coleman (pictured above-left) to follow in his footsteps. At least not at first.

At Fleet primary school in north London, children between the ages of three and 11 are learning songs about climate change and the environment. Tunes featuring fossil fuels, composting, growing vegetables and the impact of transport have all become popular in class, despite the somewhat serious messages at their heart.

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This material, provided for educational and informational purposes, constitutes a "fair use" of any copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have an interest in using the included information for research and educational purposes. Organic Consumers Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. To support our work, please send a tax-deductible donation to: OCA, 6771 South Silver Hill Dr., Finland, MN 55603Activist or Media Inquiries (218) 226-4164. Text JoinOCA to 97779 to join our mobile network.